Mott-Regent to determine future of school sites

DICKINSON - The Mott-Regent School Board is holding a special meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 30 in the Regent gym to discuss items that include the future of the Regent grades 5-8 site and the Mott K-4 site.

The discussion of the future of the site is due to a decrease in students.

“In 2001, Mott and Regent consolidated,” said Mott-Regent School Board President Heather Hertz. “At that time we had considerably more students than we do now.”

After the consolidation was completed, kindergarten through sixth grade was located in Regent as well as Mott, seventh and eighth grade was located in Regent, and ninth through 12th grades were located in Mott, Hertz said.

“As our student demographics have dwindled, we’ve had to make some changes,” Hertz said.

The most recent change, Hertz added, was the switch to fifth through eighth grade in Regent, having all kindergarten though fourth grades in Mott and leaving ninth through 12th grades in Mott as well.

“We’re looking at whether we need to make some kind of adjustment again,” Hertz said. “Our student population has dropped just like every other rural community, and we are exploring the possibility of whether we need to make another adjustment as to where we have our students located.”

Other items to be discussed include the end-of-the-year financial reports, the 2008-2009 budget, as well as the mill levy for the 2008-2009 school year.

“Depending on what we do with our facilities, and depending on what our superintendent presents for us for the budget, it may be possible that we would have to raise the mill levy in order to have enough funds to cover our budget expenses,” Hertz said. “It’s not a definite, but it’s something we might have to consider after we consider where our schools are going to be. It may change, it may not change.”

Superintendent Myron Schweitzer isn’t sure what’s going to happen at the meeting. He intends to lay out in a financial sense, the current situation as well as some other options for change.

“One of the options that people are worrying about is moving all the students to Mott,” Schweitzer said. “The other option I’m putting together is to have a K-6 in Regent, and a 7-12 in Mott.”

Schweitzer said the board can decide on these choices or leave the situation as it is.

“Those are the only three options I’m aware of,” said Hertz.

“I’m not really sure what they (school board) are going to do,” Schweitzer said. “I don’t know if they are going to take a vote that night or not. As of right now, they just put the item on the agenda to get some discussion going on it.”

Tags: mott, regent, to, determine, future, of, school, sites